Monday, February 26, 2018

Jimbu – Nepalese Allium (Herb)

Jimbu जिम्बु – Nepalese Allium or Himalayan Aromatic Herb

Jimbu, pronounced (jim-bu), is a dried, aromatic, perennial herb that is virtually unknown outside the
Himalayan region. It's common name is “Nepal aromatic
leaf garlic.” It is also known as jamboo/faran in Uttarakhand,
India and jhiku-cha in Newari language. In scientific journals,
jimbu is called Allium Hypsistum Stearn and comes from the family
Amaryllidaceae.

While researching jimbu, I found a well-written article by David Borish
which describes more on this perennial herb. He writes, "Jimbu is one product
that is native to the North Central mountainous region of Nepal, and
is of high value to Upper Mustang Nepalese (Nepal 2006). Jimbu refers
to two species of Allium, A.hypsistum and A. prezewalskianum (Nepal
2006). Both species are perennial and bulbous flowering plants
part of the Amaryllidaceous family (IUCN Nepal, 2000)."

Harvesting of Jimbu - The local
villagers and their family members travel several hours to the wild areas
of the mountain regions in which jimbu has been growing in abundance for centuries.
The villagers carefully hand-pick the green and tender foliage from the jimbu
plant. Although they collect both flowering and non flowering
parts of the plant, they believe the best flavors come from buds
that are not fully opened. It is harvested between July to
September.

After collection, the green jimbu
is brought back to villages and spread on dry mats in a well-ventilated
covered shady areas. Jimbu harvesters believe
that drying in direct sunlight makes poor quality jimbu without color
and flavor. The herb is dried for several days until all the moisture has evaporated. This is the most
traditional, simplest, and least expensive way of preserving the herb
in the remote areas.

The flavor of the herb is weakened or nearly lost in the drying process. Jimbu also loses its green color and starts to looks like a brownish-green dried grass. By the
time it hits Nepali markets, jimbu is commonly sold in dried strands. The herb has a distinct flavor which is somewhat similar to garlic and
shallots. The distinct aroma of the herb is nearly lost in the drying
process, but can be brought back to maximum flavor by browning it in
hot oil until fully fragrant before using in a dish.
Generally, a small pinch of jimbu is sufficient to flavor a dish and should be used with discretion. It is mostly not used in its raw form.

Mr. Ram Chandra Nepal in his research
paper (use and Management of Jimbu – a case study from Upper
Mustang) writes, “Jimbu collection is a very difficult job. People
have to walk far away from the village (in an average 4.4 hours from
the village) in dry, sloppy and difficult areas where water is
scarce. Sometimes people needed over night camping on the sites.
Further, people complained about headache when they were engaged in
collecting jimbu for several hours.”

Nepalese have a remarkable fondness for
this herb and they use it as a tempering spice (jhanae masalaa) to
flavor lentil dishes (daals), stir-fried vegetables, salads, and
pickles. The aromatic herb also acts as flavoring agent for preserved pickles (achaars). Traditionally, jimbu is fried in clarified butter (gheu) or mustard
oil (tori ko tel) to maximize its flavor and the infused oil is poured into a
prepared dish before serving. The fried herb lends texture and
visual appearance to any dish. In some recipes, Jimbu is added in
the beginning stage of cooking process, whereas in some recipes,
they are added at the end to the prepared dish.

Freshly cooked black lentil (maas ko daal) tempered with jimbu

Tomato chutney tempered with jimbu

Fermented radish pickle tempered with jimbu

If jimbu has been stored for a long
period of time, it becomes crisp and crumbly and starts to lose its
flavor and get stale quickly. It is recommended to purchase only in
small quantities at a time.

People from upper Mustang region
use jimbu plants for medicinal purposes. It is used for stomach
ailments, cough and cold, flu and high altitude sickness. Many
villagers believe that jimbu has some medicinal value.

Jimbu is not often available outside
Nepal (Indian grocery stores, Asian or Western markets). As a
substitute, some people use the dried roots of the garlic bulb. But this alternative will not produce the same flavor as jimbu. Recently, there are
some imported jimbu available online and in some Nepali food markets outside Nepal.

Here are some useful links about
Nepali Jimbu that you may want to check it out:

Copyright Information

All information on the Taste of Nepal blog are restricted use under
copyright law. You may not re-use words, stories, photographs, or other
posted material without the explicit written consent and proper credit
to Jyoti Pathak. If you would like to use any materials here, please
contact me.

Hi Jyoti thanks for the wonderful blog. I married my Nepali husband 18 months ago, after meeting him 5 years ago while I was living in Kathmandu. I learn some Nepali cooking while in Nepal but not a lot (was spoiled by my host family who always cooked for me!). I have been using your blog to find recipes to cook for him, and every time I cook one of your recipes he tells me it's just like or better than his mother's cooking. We were also delighted to find Jimbu being sold at our local Indian grocer in Wellington New Zealand, after a request by another local Nepali family. Really does just give that final authentic flavour to maas ko daal.

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Copyright Information

All information on the Taste of Nepal blog are restricted use under copyright law. You may not re-use words, stories, photographs, or other posted material without the explicit written consent and proper credit to Jyoti Pathak. If you would like to use any materials here, please contact me.